Smart phones, smart peopleNearly half of all U.S. consumers own some type of smart phone. But how they use them varies dramatically from person to person. We talked with random Portland-area smart phone users about how they use their devices beyond placing calls. Some of them are totally wired, while others are barely plugged in. And here's a surprise: Not one of the people we talked to said they used their phones to play Angry Birds ... well, at least they wouldn't admit it.

It's estimated that nearly half of all American consumers now have some type of smartphone, with the numbers growing every day. We use our iPhones and Androids to do everything from mundane tasks (making grocery lists, posting pictures of kittens on Facebook) to the complex (booking multi-destination trips around the globe, creating training plans for running marathons).

And we use them -- let's be honest -- to waste a lot of time. Last year, researchers determined that businesses lost $1.5 billion in productivity thanks to employees playing Angry Birds while on the clock. And when you see people futzing with their smartphones on the bus or the streetcar, they are as likely to be playing Fruit Ninja or Draw Something as they are texting, updating their Twitter status or having an actual conversation.

Yes, you can still use these smartphones to place calls.

How people use their smartphones varies dramatically. So we set out recently to discover some of the current application obsessions and top wish-list items for a range of users. Some are so attached to their smartphones they are almost never without them, while others rely on them for the bare basics.

Surprisingly, no one fessed up to playing Angry Birds. Yeah, who are they fooling?

Smartphone style: Total immersion. "I have it with me all the time. I basically replaced having a laptop with a smartphone. I check my email on it throughout the day. It keeps me tapped into the world, into the things I need to pay attention to outside of ballet."

Favorite app: Words With Friends, which has become her favorite way to communicate with family. "I connect with my family more through that than through any other app. It's two minutes a day, and I can talk smack to them or just keep in touch. I'm playing with my grandmother. Having that connection back to my family is really cool for me."

How it makes her life easier: Google Maps helps her locate happy hours nearby, and she watches a lot of dance on YouTube -- a way to watch the competition in the palm of her hand.

Apps that weren't worth the memory: "I've had a couple of games that were super time-consuming. Stupid things."

How it makes his life easier: The Nike+ app helps him with his running regimen.

Apps that weren't worth the memory: "Mostly games. I always think, 'I'm going to download this so I have something to do while waiting for the bus,' but it never works out. I always think they're horrible."

Dream app: "I'm waiting to be able to replace my debit cards and credit cards with the iPhone."

Smartphone style: Tech-head. "Aside from having my smartphone with me all the time, I work on the city's e-government initiative. We're working to integrate the city's government resources to make them more useful for residents."

Favorite app: PDX Bus. "I use public transportation to get to work, and in a heartbeat I can know how I'm getting to and from whatever. It takes data that's already available and makes it more user-friendly."

How it makes his job easier: Twitter and Facebook keep him connected with citizens. "The mayor's office is very social-media savvy. We're taught that these are the tools to make sure that we're conveying our message."

When he's not in public policy mode: "I use Instagram pretty unabashedly. It peels away what I think of as the nonsense of social media and takes the visual aspect of it, which I think is cool. It's still social media, but it gives you a different lens to look through." Oregon apps worth having